Yeah Buckles, with Second shot on offer, that's a good incentive to get cracking.
I'm labbing on my home server, got the MS press book, Youtube vids, Prof Messer vids (again)...
My girlfriend is studying for a degree so time is not a factor, thankfully

Yes mate. I've used two second shots on this exam already.. Thankfully- I've been given a voucher for the next one. I don't want to think about a second shot (would mean my sixth attempt)
I'm going to pace myself a bit more this time... Not taking it until I feel more ready (if that's ever gonna be the case)

Buckles , I am currently using the microsoft guide by tony northrup and J.C mackin and the cbt nuggets videos, but I am trying to do a lot of labbing and make sure I am good with group policy and the 2k8 side of things as well. One thing I have noticed is that microsoft exams are a lot trickier than cisco and comptia exams. In the end I might get the measure up practice exams as they were really helpful for the 70-680 exam.

Buckles , I am currently using the microsoft guide by tony northrup and J.C mackin and the cbt nuggets videos, but I am trying to do a lot of labbing and make sure I am good with group policy and the 2k8 side of things as well. One thing I have noticed is that microsoft exams are a lot trickier than cisco and comptia exams. In the end I might get the measure up practice exams as they were really helpful for the 70-680 exam.

Smilodon, I'm going to have to expand on my study material because I haven't found the Microsoft Guide in depth enough. I will need to review the Messer and CBT Videos again however. I think getting into 2k8 GPO in depth is really important, knowing how each policy directly relates/impacts a user/laptop. That's probably something I stumbled on in addition to the question/answers.... I found that they don't provide verbose answers options that is an attempt to trip you up to which I would say, get into some prac exams for sure

I'm about to get into my next study campaign. I'm planning to take again in early May if I'm feeling confident enough.

The first attempt was a throw away- I fell sick on the day and shouldn't have gone but they make it so difficult to pull out if you fall ill 24 hours before hand.
This will be my fifth attempt. If I do fail again, I will need to appeal because this exam is necessary for my next promotion so I don't have the choice of pulling out really. Half the battle for me are the exam questions themselves. They don't always provide verbose explanations for the answers available so I fall into the trap of picking the more detailed one which may not be best answer. Crap like that As i've said before, I use my communication skills to drill down with a Customer on the problem.. this exam doesn't really allow for that. You are given your choices and no matter how vague, it could be the right answer.
Anyway- in each exam attempt (I don't consider my first), I've been about 50 to 100 points off. I know I'm not far.. I just need to fine tune. Thanks for the wishes..I'll need them

I've just gone and thrown a bit of cash down on the uCertify course for 70-685. They have a truck load of questions, pre assessments and a decent amount of reading. I'll lab in conjunction with it and see how I fair.

My company have very kindly just given me an exam voucher for this so gonna aim for the second week in May and keep Second Shot in the bank if need be

That's actually when I was looking at taking it too! I'm travelling for a week with work as well in between now and then so I'll see how I fair with all that going on..
Thankfully, I've managed to score a voucher too! ... It offsets the money I'm spending on training material which is a win-win I guess..

Buckles, the more I study for this the more I can understand your battle with this exam. It is cruel that so many IT certs are comprised of multiple exams and it can be pretty boring/depressing going over the same sub topics when it comes to this material. BoL your next attempt.

Buckles, the more I study for this the more I can understand your battle with this exam. It is cruel that so many IT certs are comprised of multiple exams and it can be pretty boring/depressing going over the same sub topics when it comes to this material. BoL your next attempt.

Cheers Domestic. I've had a bit of a mental break from it- I haven't studied over the long weekend break at all; it's been great!
In saying that, I've started studying again but i'm starting with W2K8 R2 active directory etc through Train Signal.
Then i'm starting on the uCertify study material and the videos again. The most frustrating thing is misunderstanding questions time and time again. The devil is in the details ... Thanks for the wishes. Hope your study has been productive. If I can help in any way, inbox me.

Congratulations Buckle, I was able to pass it on Friday also. Neither of my passes on each of these exams were pretty but like you said just glad it is over. I felt like I got a lot "shorter" questions on my second attempt as well as less "choose all that apply" questions, makes it less difficult.

Congratulations Buckle, I was able to pass it on Friday also. Neither of my passes on each of these exams were pretty but like you said just glad it is over. I felt like I got a lot "shorter" questions on my second attempt as well as less "choose all that apply" questions, makes it less difficult.

Well done mate! Even though I just passed, I felt that reminding myself with every question that "this is has to be done the MS way" really helped...also took a lot of notes.. even if a random thought about another question or technology came to mind.. just scribbled it down. Those "choose all that apply" are painful. I got my case studies out of the way in the beginning too.... that allowed me to focus in on the other 41 questions....

Congrats buckles, I am glad you put this one to bed. What is your next step going to be?

Smilodon, your recommendation to go over the Ed Lieberman videos on AD/DS etc proved to be invaluable. I'm plugging uCertify again but I certainly found their way of teaching to be helpful...I've got a feeling they used Darril Gibson's work under some sort of copyright permission.
In conjunction with with some interactive quizzes, the volume of questions and the style of questioning helped.

As to my next step, I need to get through one more fixed step training course test (it's an easy one) that my company requires for my promotion and then honestly...... I haven't thought about it. This exam has been a part of my life for the last 7 months in one way or another. I'm looking forward to stepping off the gas for a little while..
I walked into my study last night and saw a pile of notes, books and practice exam print outs...At that point, I realised It's all over ...

I do want to keep learning in one way or another though, I know that much. Maybe a project management course like PRINCE...or whatever my company tells me I need for my next promotion ...

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